Critical Linking: January 28th, 2013

Martin’s contribution to the book, The Princess and the Queen, is a novella set in the Song and Ice and Fire world that “will reveal the origins of the Targaryen Civil War, otherwise known as ‘The Dance of the Dragons.’ A war that split a then fledgling Westeros in two, pitting Targaryen against Targaryen and dragon against dragon.”

Best-selling author Stephen King has just released a passionate call for greater gun control, titled “Guns.” In a coup for Amazon, the essay is available only through its Kindle Store for 99 cents.

I wonder why go this way, rather than publish in a magazine or something–seems like it would get wider distribution.

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In 1812, the year Charles Dickens was born, there were 66 novels published in Britain. People had been writing novels for a century–most critics date the genre to Robinson Crusoe in 1719–but nobody aspired to do it professionally.